Month: February 2025

Trump imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court

Posted on by SeeEU

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday authorized economic and travel sanctions targeting people who work on International Criminal Court investigations of U.S. citizens or U.S. allies such as Israel, repeating action he took during his first term.  

The move coincides with a visit to Washington by Israel’s Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu, who — along with his former defense minister and a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas — is wanted by the ICC over the war in the Gaza Strip.  

It was unclear how quickly the U.S. would announce names of people sanctioned. During the first Trump administration in 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes by American troops in Afghanistan. 

The ICC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sanctions include freezing any U.S. assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States. 

The 125-member ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression against the territory of member states or by their nationals. The United States, China, Russia and Israel are not members.  

Trump signed the executive order after U.S. Senate Democrats last week blocked a Republican-led effort to pass legislation setting up a sanctions regime targeting the war crimes court.  

The court has taken measures to shield staff from possible U.S. sanctions, paying salaries three months in advance, as it braced for financial restrictions that could cripple the war crimes tribunal, sources told Reuters last month. 

In December, the court’s president, judge Tomoko Akane, warned that sanctions would “rapidly undermine the Court’s operations in all situations and cases, and jeopardize its very existence.”

Russia has also taken aim at the court. In 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia has banned entry to ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan and placed him and two ICC judges on its wanted list. 
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200 Kenyan police officers arrive at UN mission in Haiti

Posted on by SeeAF

Two hundred Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti on Thursday to join the United Nations-backed mission to fight gangs in the crisis-plagued Caribbean country.

More than 600 Kenyan officers had already been stationed in Haiti as part of a multinational force of police officers and soldiers from other countries — including Jamaica, Guatemala and El Salvador — who assist Haiti’s police in fighting the violent gangs in control of much of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

“The Haitian National Police are outnumbered and outgunned by the gangs,” William O’Neill, a U.N. expert on Haiti, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The U.N. mission plays a critical role in establishing security in Haiti, he said.

The arrival of the newly deployed police officers from Kenya was cast into doubt earlier this week, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a freeze on U.S. foreign aid that included $13.3 million slated for the U.N. mission in Haiti.

The U.S. State Department, however, announced it has approved waivers for $40.7 million in foreign aid for the Haitian mission and the police. The State Department also said it recently delivered “much-needed heavy armored equipment” to the mission and the police.

Godfrey Otunge, the U.N.’s mission’s force commander in Haiti, said in a statement Wednesday that the frozen funds make up under 3% of ongoing assistance to the mission. Both the state and the defense departments “remain actively engaged” in the mission, Otunge said.

“I want to assure everyone, especially the people of Haiti, that the mission remains on track,” the force commander said.

According to Otunge, the U.S. and other partner countries are continuing to contribute logistical, financial, and equipment support to the Haitian mission.

“Steady and predictable funding for the [mission] requires all states to contribute, especially those in the region,” O’Neill, the U.N. expert on Haiti, said. “More stability in Haiti will reduce the pressure to migrate, which is in everyone’s interest.”

The Kenyan-led U.N. mission faces a daunting task in a country that has never fully recovered from a devastating earthquake in 2010 and is now without a president or parliament. Haiti is ruled by a transitional body that faces enormous challenges, including gangs and extreme violence and poverty. Almost 6,000 people were killed in gang violence in the country last year.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto Thursday and thanked him for the country’s leadership of the mission in Haiti.

Last year, nearly 1 million people in Haiti fled their homes due to gang violence, a figure that French news agency Agence France-Presse reports as three times higher than the previous year.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press and Agence France Presse.    
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‘Confusion’ in South Africa over US HIV funding

Posted on by SeeAF

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — Some South African organizations that assist people with HIV are in limbo, after the United States put a 90-day freeze on most foreign aid. The U.S. State Department later added a waiver for “lifesaving” aid, but NGOs that have already shut their doors say the next steps aren’t clear, and they are worried this could set back years of progress.

South Africa has the highest number of HIV-positive people in the world — about 8 million — but has also been a huge success story in terms of treatment and preventing new infections.

That’s largely due to the money poured into expert HIV care here, 17% of which comes from a U.S. program called the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR.

But, a 90-day foreign aid funding freeze is in effect, following an executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump last month to check if U.S.-funded programs overseas are aligned with U.S. policies. This has caused some confusion in South Africa with health care organizations and their patients.

Thamsanqa Siyo, an HIV-positive transgender woman in South Africa, is anxious.

“People are frustrated, they’re living in fear, they don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Siyo. “They don’t know if it’s stopped temporarily or not temporarily.”

The Cape Town clinic that Siyo used to go to has now been closed for two weeks.

While the State Department has issued a waiver to continue paying for “lifesaving” services, what that includes remains unclear to many South African organizations that receive funding from PEPFAR.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that the waiver was clear.

“If it saves lives, if it’s emergency lifesaving aid — food, medicine, whatever — they have a waiver,” said Rubio. “I don’t know how much clearer we can be.”

The State Department also issued written clarification and guidance on February 1 regarding which activities are and are not covered by the waiver for PEPFAR programs.

The South African government said it was blindsided by the U.S. aid freeze, according to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who convened a meeting about PEPFAR on Wednesday.

Motsoaledi also said he has sought clarity on the waiver.

“If you say American money cannot be used for LGBTQWI+ and we do the counseling and testing and somebody who falls within that category, transgender, tests positive, can they not be helped?” he asked. “Even if it’s lifesaving?”

Linda-Gail Bekker is a doctor and scientist who heads the Desmond Tutu HIV Center in South Africa.

“This is not one homogenous picture,” said Bekker. “In some places, it’s parts of services that have been stopped. In other places, the whole clinic, if it was supplied by PEPFAR, has been closed down.”

She also said that some transgender health services have been completely closed, and in other areas, counselors haven’t been able to come in.

In addition, she said some services and drugs are no longer available, such as community-based testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis, a medicine that prevents people at high risk from contracting HIV.

Ling Sheperd, who works for Triangle Project, an nongovernmental organization that provides services for the queer community, said there’s a risk of “undoing decades of progress.”

“The impact is devastating,” said Sheperd. “The PEPFAR funding has been a lifeline for millions and it ensures access to HIV treatment, prevention services, and of course community-based health care. And without it we are seeing interruptions in medication supply, clinics are scaling back services, and community health workers have literally been losing their livelihoods.”

About 5.5 million South Africans are on anti-retroviral medication for HIV. Motsoaledi noted that most of that is funded by the government here.

However, he said, a PEPFAR shortfall will affect training, facilities and service delivery. The government said it is working on contingency plans that would reduce dependence on foreign aid in the HIV sector.

On Wednesday, a group of health organizations sent a letter to the South African government saying at least 900,000 patients with HIV were directly affected by the U.S. stop-work orders.
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Treaty obliges US to to defend Panama Canal, says Rubio

Posted on by SeeUS

STATE DEPARTMENT — The United States has a treaty obligation to protect the Panama Canal if it comes under attack, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday, amid confusion and what Panama has described as “lies” regarding whether U.S. Navy ships can transit the Panama Canal for free.

“I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict. Those are our expectations. … They were clearly understood in those conversations,” Rubio said during a press conference in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. He held talks with Panamanian President Jose Rauu Mulino in Panama City on Sunday.

Rubio was referring to a treaty signed by the U.S. and Panama in 1977.

The top U.S. diplomat told reporters that while he respects Panama’s democratically elected government and acknowledges that it has “a process of laws and procedures that it needs to follow,” the treaty obligation “would have to be enforced by the armed forces the United States, particularly the U.S. Navy.”

The U.S. intends to pursue an amicable resolution, Rubio said.

Mulino posted on X that he planned to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon.

On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said, via a social media post on X, that U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without incurring fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars annually.

But the Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous agency overseen by the Panamanian government, disputed the U.S. claim, saying that it has made no adjustments to these fees. It also expressed its willingness to engage in dialogue with relevant U.S. officials.

During his weekly press conference on Thursday, the Panamanian president denied his country had reached a deal allowing U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free, saying he completely rejected the State Department’s statement.

Belt and Road Initiative

Meanwhile, Mulino told reporters that the Panamanian Embassy in Beijing had provided China with the required 90-day notice of its decision to exit the Belt and Road Initiative, also known as BRI.

He denied that the decision was made at Washington’s request, saying that he was taking time to assess Panama’s relationship with China and decide what would best serve his country’s interests.

“I don’t know what the incentive was for the person who signed that agreement with China,” Mulino said in Spanish, adding that he did not think the BRI had brought major benefits to his country.

Panama joined China’s BRI under former President Juan Carlos Varela. The agreement was signed in 2018, following Panama’s decision in 2017 to establish its diplomatic relations with China and sever ties with Taiwan.

Rubio has welcomed Panama’s decision not to renew its participation in China’s BRI.

China describes the BRI, which was launched in 2013 under President Xi Jinping, as a vast infrastructure initiative designed to connect multiple continents through land and maritime routes.

The United States has warned that the project is driven by China’s mission to manipulate and undermine the global rules-based trading system for its own benefit.

In Beijing, Chinese officials dismissed what they called the U.S.’s “irresponsible remarks on the Panama Canal issue” and accused Washington of intentionally distorting, attacking and mischaracterizing relevant cooperation.

“China firmly opposes it and made stern demarches to the U.S. side,” said Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry.

While in Santo Domingo, Rubio met with Dominican President Luis Abinader and Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez.

The Dominican Republic is the final stop on Rubio’s five-nation tour across Central America and the Caribbean, which focuses on curbing illegal immigration, combating drug trafficking and countering China’s growing influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France Presse and Reuters.
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White House monitoring China’s complaint on Trump tariffs at WTO

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white house — The White House on Thursday said it was monitoring a complaint by China to the World Trade Organization that accuses the United States of making “unfounded and false allegations” about China’s role in the fentanyl trade to justify tariffs on Chinese products.

The complaint was made Wednesday, a day after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods by 10%. The White House said the new duties on Chinese goods were aimed at halting the flow of fentanyl opioids and their precursor chemicals.

China said it was imposing retaliatory tariffs on some American goods beginning February 10, including 15% duties on coal and natural gas imports and 10% on petroleum, agricultural equipment, high-emission vehicles and pickup trucks. The country also immediately implemented restrictions on the export of certain critical minerals and launched an antitrust investigation into American tech giant Google.

In the WTO filing, China said the U.S. tariff measures were “discriminatory and protectionist” and violated international trade rules. Beijing has requested a consultation with Washington.

China’s request will kick-start a process within the WTO’s Appellate Body, which has the final say on dispute settlements. A White House official told VOA the administration was monitoring Beijing’s file but did not provide further details.

Analysts say Beijing’s move is largely performative and unlikely to yield much relief. The Appellate Body has been largely paralyzed following the first Trump administration’s 2019 move to block appointments of appellate judges over what it viewed as judicial overreach. The Biden administration continued the policy.

China recognizes the WTO is not going to put a lot of pressure on the United States because Washington is fully capable of blocking any legal process there, said Jeffrey Schott, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

“So instead, I think the Chinese reaction has been moderate in indicating that they will act tit for tat against U.S. trade,” he told VOA.

Schott added that there’s “a desire to keep things cool” and moderate the damage, just as what happened during the first Trump administration when a trade deal was agreed upon after initial retaliatory trade actions.

On the U.S. side, the 10% tariffs against China are much lower than the up to 60% that Trump promised during his presidential campaign, he said. 

Trump-Xi call

Trump imposed import duties on Beijing after delaying his actions to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada following conversations Monday with their leaders. Tariff critics are hoping that a conversation between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could lead to similar results.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the call “is being scheduled and will happen very soon.”

However, Trump has dismissed the negative impact of China’s tariffs and said he was “in no rush” to speak with Xi.

“We’ll speak to him at the appropriate time,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

Unlike Trump’s deal with Mexico and Canada, an agreement with Beijing is unlikely to come quickly, considering strong bipartisan support for placing tariffs on China because of concern about the influx of illegal drugs and other national security concerns, said Rachel Ziemba, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

“Even if they come up with some kind of agreement to settle this particular tariff or to remove the countertariffs, there will probably be more tariffs on China later in this administration,” she told VOA.

The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday announced that it was suspending acceptance of inbound packages from China and Hong Kong, closing a loophole that Chinese garment and other consumer goods companies have used in the past. These companies, including Shein and Temu as well as Amazon vendors, bypassed existing U.S. tariffs by shipping to American customers directly from China.

On Wednesday, USPS reversed its decision, saying it would work with Customs and Border Protection on a way to collect the new tariffs. 

The Postal Service “will continue accepting all international inbound mail and packages from China and Hong Kong Posts,” it said. “The USPS and Customs and Border Protection are working closely together to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to ensure the least disruption to package delivery.”

It is unclear how the fee will be collected in such direct transactions between Chinese sellers and American buyers.

Trump’s trade actions on China, Canada and Mexico, as well as his threat to impose duties on all foreign shipments into the country, including from European allies, have caused confusion and uncertainty across global trade. 

Businesses usually respond to trade uncertainty by holding off on investments or passing on increased costs to customers. But the damage goes beyond small and large businesses domestically and abroad, Ziemba said.

“If one of the U.S. goals is relying less on China and Chinese supply chains for critical minerals, for energy, for other things like that, then the uncertainty about whether there’s going to be tariffs and investment restrictions on its allies fly in the face of that goal,” she said. 
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VOA Russian: Momentum lost for North Korean troops in Russia

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Thousands of North Korean troops helped Russia regain some of its territory in the Kursk region following Ukraine’s counterattack, but the Russian army is now using them less on the front line and have pulled some back. VOA Russian spoke to experts who noted that despite initial successes, the losses in manpower among North Korean recruits became overwhelming as they were unprepared and not trained for the current war in Ukraine. 

Click here for the full story in Russian.
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Azerbaijan detains two more journalists as watchdogs denounce crackdown

Posted on by SeeEU

Azerbaijani authorities detained two more journalists this week, bringing the number held in the past year to nearly two dozen.

Police on Wednesday arrested Shamshad Agha, of the news website Argument, and Shahnaz Beylargizi of Toplum TV. A court in the capital, Baku, on Thursday ordered the journalists to be held in pretrial detention for two months and one day, and three months and 15 days respectively, according to their lawyers.

The journalists are charged with smuggling — a charge used in several other cases since November 2023, as authorities detained at least 23 journalists.

Many of those currently detained had worked for the independent outlets Abzas Media and Meydan TV.

All the journalists being investigated since November 2023 have denied wrongdoing, and media watchdogs say they believe the cases are designed to silence media.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, said that Agha’s arrest “underscores a grim intent by Azerbaijani authorities to silence and further restrict the country’s small and embattled independent media community.”

“Azerbaijan’s government should immediately reverse its unprecedented media crackdown and release Agha along with all other unjustly jailed journalists,” said a statement from CPJ’s Gulnoza Said.

Bashir Suleymanli, who is head of the Baku-based legal assistance group known as the Institute of Civil Rights, believes that the arrests are an attempt by authorities to stifle free speech.

“It seems that the process will continue until the complete elimination of independent journalism in the country,” he told VOA.

Lawmaker Bahruz Maharramov, however, says the arrests are not a press freedom issue.

“Law enforcement agencies have taken relevant measures based on facts and irrefutable evidence, the authenticity of which is beyond doubt,” he told VOA. “Of course, since such media organizations are formed more as instruments of influence of the West, the legal and judicial measures taken against them are observed with inadequate reactions from the West.”

Based in Azerbaijan, human rights activist Samir Kazimli says that independent media and news outlets critical of the government are undergoing a difficult period.

“If this policy of repression does not stop, independent media in Azerbaijan may be completely destroyed,” he told VOA.

Kazimli said that the international community, including rights groups, politicians and U.S. and European officials “must take steps using urgent and effective mechanisms to stop the Azerbaijani authorities’ attacks on civil society and independent media.”

One of the journalists detained this week had recently spoken out about concerns for the future of independent media in Azerbaijan.

“The lives of all independent journalists are in danger,” Agha told VOA in January.

The editor of Argument, a news website covering democracy, corruption and human rights, said he has been banned from leaving the country since July.

The research organization Freedom House describes Azerbaijan as an “authoritarian regime” and states that authorities have “carried out an extensive crackdown on civil liberties in recent years.”

Elshan Hasanov of the Political Prisoners Monitoring Center told VOA that the total number of detainees documented by the Azeri nonprofit is 331.

Azerbaijani authorities reject criticism on detainees as biased.

Parliamentarian Maharramov told VOA that media in the country are free and that conditions for providing everyone with information, including diversity of opinion and freedom of action in the media sector as a whole, are fully ensured.

Azerbaijan is among the worst jailers of journalists in the world, according to data by the CPJ. The country ranks 164 out of 180 on the Press Freedom Index, where 1 shows the best environment for media. 

This story originated in VOA’s Azeri Service.
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Darfuri women face sexual violence in war, refuge

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Aid groups say sexual violence is a constant threat for women in Sudan’s Darfur, but refugees also say it’s a problem for those who have fled the region. Reporting from a refugee camp on Chad’s border with Darfur, Henry Wilkins looks at the phenomenon of “firewood rape.” Camera: Henry Wilkins.
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House lawmakers push to ban AI app DeepSeek from US government devices

Posted on by SeeUS

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan duo in the U.S. House is proposing legislation to ban the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek from federal devices, similar to the policy already in place for the popular social media platform TikTok.

Lawmakers Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey, and Darin LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, on Thursday introduced the “No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act,” which would ban federal employees from using the Chinese AI app on government-owned electronics. They cited the Chinese government’s ability to use the app for surveillance and misinformation as reasons to keep it away from federal networks.

“The Chinese Communist Party has made it abundantly clear that it will exploit any tool at its disposal to undermine our national security, spew harmful disinformation, and collect data on Americans,” Gottheimer said in a statement. “We simply can’t risk the CCP infiltrating the devices of our government officials and jeopardizing our national security.”

The proposal comes after the Chinese software company in January published an AI model that performed at a competitive level with models developed by American firms like OpenAI, Meta, Alphabet and others. DeepSeek purported to develop the model at a fraction of the cost of its American counterparts. The announcement raised alarm bells and prompted debates among policymakers and leading Silicon Valley financiers and technologists.

The churn over AI is coming at a moment of heightened competition between the U.S. and China in a range of areas, including technological innovation. The U.S. has levied tariffs on Chinese goods, restricted Chinese tech firms like Huawei from being used in government systems, and banned the export of state of the art microchips thought to be needed to develop the highest end AI models.

Last year, Congress and then-President Joe Biden approved a divestment of the popular social media platform TikTok from its Chinese parent company or face a ban across the U.S.; that policy is now on hold. President Donald Trump, who originally proposed a ban of the app in his first term, signed an executive order last month extending a window for a long-term solution before the legally required ban takes effect.

In 2023, Biden banned TikTok from federal-issued devices.

“The technology race with the Chinese Communist Party is not one the United States can afford to lose,” LaHood said in a statement. “This commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation will ban the app from federal workers’ phones while closing backdoor operations the company seeks to exploit for access. It is critical that Congress safeguard Americans’ data and continue to ensure American leadership in AI.”

The bill would single out DeepSeek and any AI application developed by its parent company, the hedge fund High-Flyer, as subject to the ban. The legislation includes exceptions for national security and research purposes that would allow federal employers to study DeepSeek.

Some lawmakers wish to go further. A bill proposed last week by Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, would bar the import or export of any AI technology from China writ large, citing national security concerns.
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US service member, 3 contractors die in plane crash in Philippines

Posted on by SeeEA

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — One U.S. service member and three defense contractors were killed Thursday when a plane contracted by the U.S. military crashed in a rice field in the southern Philippines, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said.

The aircraft was conducting a routine mission “providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies,” the command said in a statement. It said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines also confirmed the crash of a light plane in Maguindanao del Sur province. It did not immediately provide other details.

The bodies of the four people were retrieved from the wreckage in Ampatuan town, said Ameer Jehad Tim Ambolodto, a safety officer of Maguindanao del Sur. Indo-Pacific Command said the names of the crew were being withheld pending family notifications.

Windy Beaty, a provincial disaster-mitigation officer, told The Associated Press that she received reports that residents saw smoke coming from the plane and heard an explosion before the aircraft plummeted to the ground less than a kilometer from a cluster of farmhouses.

Nobody was reported injured on or near the crash site, which was cordoned off by troops, Beaty said.

U.S. forces have been deployed in a Philippine military camp in the country’s south for decades to help provide advice and training to Filipino forces battling Muslim militants. The region is the homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation.
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Swedish police describe ‘inferno’ at scene of mass shooting

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Police in Sweden investigating the nation’s worst mass shooting said at a news briefing Thursday that the scene at an adult learning center was an “inferno” of smoke, with injured and dead victims.

The attack on Tuesday left 10 people dead, including the suspected shooter, at Campus Risbergska in the city of Orebro, about 200 kilometers west of Stockholm. The facility offers adult courses, including Swedish language classes for immigrants. Law enforcement officials say the shooter, who Swedish media have identified as 35-year-old Rickard Andersson, may have been a student at the center.

Law enforcement officials have not officially identified the suspect, whose cause of death remains unclear.

Orebro police Chief Lars Wiren said at the news conference Thursday that about 130 officers arrived at the scene within 10 minutes of an alarm, where they found “dead people, injured people, screams and smoke.”

As officers entered the building, they reported it was partially filled with smoke, making it difficult for them to see. They reported gunfire that they believed was directed at them but reportedly did not return fire.

Police said the smoke was not caused by fire but by “some sort of pyrotechnics.” Several officers had to seek medical treatment for smoke inhalation.

Chief investigator Anna Bergkvist said Thursday that the suspect had a license for four guns, all of which have been confiscated.

“Three of those weapons were next to him when police secured him inside the building,” she said.

Bergkvist said investigators have not determined a motive for the mass shooting, telling Agence France-Presse that “multiple nationalities, different genders and different ages” were among those who were killed.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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Trump attends National Prayer Breakfast

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WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that his relationship with religion had “changed” after a pair of failed assassination attempts last year, as he advocated at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol for Americans to “bring God back into our lives.”

Trump joined a Washington tradition of more than 70 years that brings together a bipartisan group of lawmakers for fellowship. He was also to speak at a separate prayer breakfast at a Washington hotel sponsored by a private group.

“I really believe you can’t be happy without religion, without that belief,” Trump said. “Let’s bring religion back. Let’s bring God back into our lives.”

Trump reflected on having a bullet coming close to killing him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, telling lawmakers and attendees, “It changed something in me, I feel.”

He continued: “I feel even stronger. I believed in God, but I feel, I feel much more strongly about it. Something happened.”

He drew laughs when he expressed gratitude that the episode “didn’t affect my hair.” The president, who’s a nondenominational Christian, called religious liberty “part of the bedrock of American life” and called for protecting it with “absolute devotion.”

Trump and his administration have already clashed with religious leaders, including him disagreeing with the Reverend Mariann Budde’s sermon the day after his inauguration, when she called for mercy for members of the LGBTQ+ community and migrants who are in the country illegally.

Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, has sparred with top U.S. leaders of his own church over immigration issues. And many clergy members across the country are worried about the removal of churches from the sensitive-areas list, allowing federal officials to conduct immigration actions at places of worship.

The Republican president made waves at the final prayer breakfast during his first term. That year the gathering came the day after the Senate acquitted him in his first impeachment trial.

Trump in his remarks then threw not-so-subtle barbs at Democratic then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who publicly said she prayed for Trump, and Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, who had cited his faith in his decision to vote to convict Trump. “I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong.”

Trump said then in his winding speech, in which he also held up two newspapers with banner headlines about his acquittal. “Nor do I like people who say, ‘I pray for you,’ when they know that that’s not so.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to attend the prayer breakfast, in February 1953, and every president since has spoken at the gathering.

Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas are the honorary co-chairs of this year’s prayer breakfast.

In 2023, the National Prayer Breakfast split into two dueling events, the one on Capitol Hill largely attended by lawmakers and government officials and a larger private event for thousands at a hotel ballroom.

The split occurred when lawmakers sought to distance themselves from the private religious group that for decades had overseen the bigger event, due to questions about its organization and how it was funded. In 2023 and 2024, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, spoke at the Capitol Hill event, and his remarks were livestreamed to the other gathering.
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Japan’s Ishiba faces balancing act in first meeting with Trump

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Seoul, South Korea — When Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, his goal, according to Japanese officials, will be straightforward: reaffirm the U.S.-Japan alliance and build a strong rapport with Trump.

But many in Tokyo see Ishiba’s goal as even simpler: to avoid a diplomatic disaster with a newly re-elected Trump, whose “America First” foreign policy has returned with even greater intensity than during his first term.

Not even three weeks after retaking office, Trump has escalated pressure on U.S. allies and partners, often in abrupt and unpredictable ways.

He has threatened tariffs on Mexico and Canada while raising the possibility of military action against cartels and suggesting Canada become the 51st state. He has floated seizing Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark, and warned Panama that if it doesn’t curb Chinese influence, the U.S. could forcibly take back control of the Panama Canal.

The developments have rattled many in Tokyo, which relies on the U.S. nuclear umbrella and has long aligned itself with the concept of a U.S.-led, rules-based international order.

“If you watch Japanese media or listen to what Japanese people say, they’re just hoping that Ishiba can get out of this meeting without being a victim of some kind of new attack from America,” said Jeffrey J. Hall, a Japanese politics specialist at Kanda University of International Studies.

Emulating Abe?

So far, Japan has been spared Trump’s second-term criticism. Last week, while announcing his meeting with Ishiba, Trump declared, “I like Japan,” citing his friendship with Shinzo Abe, the country’s deceased former prime minister.

Abe, who led Japan for nearly all of Trump’s first term, carefully cultivated the relationship through personal diplomacy and flattery – often playing golf with Trump and even gifting him a gold-plated golf club. Many Japanese commentators hope Ishiba can take a similar approach to maintain smooth relations with Trump.

But that may be difficult. Unlike Abe, Ishiba leads an unstable minority government and faces the possibility of his party losing its Upper House majority in crucial elections later this year.

Analysts also say Ishiba’s less charismatic personality may make it hard for him to form a personal bond with Trump.

“He doesn’t do the bullet points and assertive style of communication that Trump seems to appreciate,” said Philip Turner, a former senior New Zealand diplomat now based in Tokyo. “If flattery is the solution, then Ishiba probably is not very good at it.”

Better to stay quiet?

The situation is so volatile that some in Japan question whether Ishiba should be meeting Trump right now at all. Instead of walking into danger, they ask, why not try to stay off Trump’s radar for as long as possible?

But a quiet approach may not work either, said Mieko Nakabayashi, a former Japanese lawmaker. “Some people say, ‘Don’t wake the sleeping baby,’ but this time Ishiba may have to do it,” said Nakabayashi, a professor at Tokyo’s Waseda University.

If Trump eventually threatens Japan with tariffs, Nakabayashi said it will be better for Ishiba to have established a personal relationship with him beforehand to manage the crisis.

“You have to take a risk if you want to have a better relationship with Mr. Trump,” she added.

To head off potential pressure, analysts say Ishiba may highlight Japan’s role as the largest foreign investor in the United States. He may also want to raise economic issues like Nippon Steel’s attempted takeover of U.S. Steel, which was blocked by the administration of former U.S. president Joe Biden.

But some analysts predict Ishiba may scale back his ambitions, aiming simply to pave the way for a Trump visit to Japan, where officials would try to demonstrate the importance of the alliance firsthand.

Hall said that approach may be successful, if only because “Trump seems to have his plate full with a lot of other things right now and Japan is a sort of reliable partner that doesn’t stir things up.”

“But we’ll have to see. We really can’t predict America and how it will act right now,” he added. “It’s just at a level of uncertainty that Japan has never experienced before.”
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Baltic nations count final hours to ending electricity ties to Russia

Posted on by SeeEU

VILNIUS, LITHUANIA — Nearly 3 1/2 decades after leaving the Soviet Union, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this weekend will flip a switch to end electricity-grid connections to neighboring Russia and Belarus — and turn to their European Union allies.

The severing of electricity ties to oil- and gas-rich Russia is steeped in geopolitical and symbolic significance. Work toward it sped up after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine three years ago, battering Moscow’s EU relations.

“This is physical disconnection from the last remaining element of our reliance on the Russian and Belarusian energy system,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and other dignitaries are expected at a ceremony on Sunday as a specially-made 9-meter-tall clock in downtown Vilnius counts down the final seconds of the Baltic states’ electricity ties to Russia.

Chilly ties since the fall of the Soviet Union

The Baltic countries, which are all NATO members, have often had chilly ties with Russia since declaring independence from the USSR in 1990 — and relations soured further over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Sixteen power lines that used to connect the three Baltic states with Russia and Belarus were dismantled over the years as a new grid linking them with the rest of the EU was created, including underwater cables in the Baltic Sea.

On Saturday, all remaining transmission lines between them and Russia, Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad — a Russian exclave wedged between EU members Poland and Lithuania and the sea — will be switched off one by one.

Then, for 24 hours, the Baltic Power System will operate solo in an “island operation mode.” The next day, the power system is set to merge with the Continental European and Nordic grids through several links with Finland, Sweden and Poland.

The Kaliningrad region, which has no land ties to mainland Russia, already relies on its own power generation, according to Litgrid, Lithuania’s electricity transmission system operator.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the disconnection plan was announced in advance by the Baltic countries and the Russian energy sector had taken preparatory steps to ensure smooth operation on its side.

“Those plans were announced a long time ago, and they required certain actions by our and their electric companies,” Peskov told reporters. “We have taken all necessary measures to ensure reliable and uninterrupted operation of our unified energy system.”

Risks of troublemaking?

The three Baltic countries, which together share a 1,633-kilometer-long border with Russia and Belarus, officially informed Moscow and Minsk of the disconnection plan in July. Their national transmission system operators credited 1.2 billion euros, or $1.25 billion, in EU and other support, to help the countries synchronize with the Continental Europe Synchronous Area.

“Lithuania has done a lot in the last 30 years to disconnect, to become independent,” Nausėda said. Three years ago, “we stopped buying any kind of energy resources from Russia. It was our response to the war in Ukraine.”

Despite the advance notice, the Baltic nations are still on watch for a possible response from their former Soviet partners.

“The risk of cyberattacks remains substantial,” Litgrid said last week, adding that continued vigilance, collaboration, defensive steps and “robust” cybersecurity measures were needed to effectively mitigate potential threats.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa warned Wednesday of possible provocations, but said Latvia was well-prepared and services including the armed forces and national guard were stepping up their vigilance and security measures.

“Clearly there are risks, we understand that very well. But the risks are identified and there is a contingency plan in case these risks materialize,” Siliņa said.

After the disconnection plans were announced, propaganda campaigns cropped up on social media and in printed leaflets in city streets that issued fake-news warnings about blackouts, severe energy shortages and sky-high energy bills for consumers.

“We heard those rumors, but we are used to such things already,” said Jolanta Karavaitiene, a retired teacher, in central Vilnius. “Of course, we must disconnect from them. Given the geopolitical situation, I see no reason for us to be there (in the Russian grid).”

Still, some in the region were taking precautionary measures.

Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR has reported surging sales of generators. Home appliance chain Bauhof sold dozens more generators last month compared to January a year ago, and rival Ehituse ABC had to limit their purchases the report said.

A long road toward energy independence

The Baltic countries’ steps toward energy independence have been decades in the making.

In 2003, prior to joining the EU, Lithuania decided to shut down the Soviet-built Ignalina nuclear power plant in response to concerns in Brussels over its safety. It was decommissioned in 2009.

Lithuania built an offshore oil terminal in the Baltic Sea in 1999. Seven years later, it became the country’s sole crude oil import point after Russia’s surprise move to halt supplies of oil to Lithuania through Russia’s vast Druzhba pipeline network.

Rokas Masiulis, the CEO of Litgrid, said Lithuania has “suffered a great deal” because of Russian actions in the past, such as through halting oil supplies and jacking up prices for gas that his country once depended on.

He said Lithuania today has “much more than we need” in terms of electricity capacity, from both fossil fuels but also increasingly solar and wind. “So we are safe,” he said.

The disconnection with Russia “is neither bad for them, (nor) bad for us,” Masiulis said. “We were sort of interconnected and interdependent on each other. Now we will just part our ways.”

The three Baltic countries have rebuilt power lines and launched a vast construction and reconstruction program to turn their networks away from Russia and toward the West, the Litgrid CEO added, calling it a technological feat.

“Actions by Russia — by them being aggressive and pushing their neighbors — has really helped us,” Masiulis said. “Maybe we’ve suffered a little with oil prices, with gas prices, but we were forced to act. So we built alternative routes.”

“Now we’re in much better state than we were before,” he added. “So maybe they wished us ill, but ultimately everything worked very well for us.” 
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Mexico deploys the first of 10,000 troops to US border after Trump’s tariff threat

Posted on by SeeUS

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, MEXICO — A line of Mexican National Guard and Army trucks rumbled along the border separating Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, among the first of 10,000 troops Mexico has sent to its northern frontier following tariff threats by President Donald Trump. 

Masked and armed National Guard members picked through brush running along the border barrier on the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez, pulling out makeshift ladders and ropes tucked away in the trenches, and pulling them onto trucks. Patrols were also seen on other parts of the border near Tijuana. 

It comes after a turbulent week along the border after Trump announced he would delay imposing crippling tariffs on Mexico for at least a month. In exchange, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised she would send the country’s National Guard to reinforce the border and crack down on fentanyl smuggling. 

Trump has declared an emergency on the border despite migration levels and fentanyl overdoses significantly dipping over the past year. The U.S. said it would, in turn, do more to stop American guns from being trafficked into Mexico to fuel cartel violence, which has rippled to other parts of the country as criminal groups fight to control the lucrative migrant smuggling industry. 

On Tuesday, the first of those forces arrived in border cities, climbing out of government planes. Guard members in the Wednesday patrol confirmed that they were part of the new force. 

“There will be permanent surveillance on the border,” José Luis Santos Iza, one of the National Guard leaders heading off the deployment in the city, told media upon the arrival of the first set of soldiers. “This operation is primarily to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, mainly fentanyl.” 

At least 1,650 troops were expected to be sent to Ciudad Juárez, according to government figures, making it one of the biggest receivers of border reinforcements in the country, second only to Tijuana, where 1,949 are slated to be sent. 

During U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip through Latin America — where migration was at the top of the agenda — the top American diplomat thanked the Mexican government for the forces, according to a statement by the Mexican government. 

The negotiation by Sheinbaum was viewed by observers as a bit of shrewd political maneuvering by the newly elected Mexican leader. Many had previously cast doubt that she’d be able to navigate Trump’s presidency as effectively as her predecessor and ally, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. 

 
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South Korea’s impeached prime minister says Cabinet had concerns over martial law

Posted on by SeeEA

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korea’s impeached prime minister told parliament on Thursday that “everyone” in a hastily arranged meeting of ministers expressed concerns about President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law plan before he announced it on Dec. 3.

Han Duck-soo, who was briefly acting president after Yoon was impeached and suspended from power on Dec. 14, before being impeached himself, on Thursday joined acting President Choi Sang-mok, the finance minister, in facing parliamentary questioning over their role in the shock martial law decision.

“Everyone objected and expressed worry and raised the problems with this decision to the president,” Han told a special committee, referring to the meeting where Yoon told some cabinet members of his intention to declare martial law.

The martial law lasted around six hours before Yoon rescinded the order in the face of opposition from parliament, but it sent shockwaves through Asia’s fourth-largest economy and sparked a spiraling political crisis.

Choi told the committee that the biggest challenges in the country right now include the livelihood of the people and changes in the international order.

“There’s the need to stabilize government administration,” he said.

Yoon appeared on Thursday at a hearing in his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court, which will decide whether to reinstate him or remove him permanently from office.

Senior military officials testified in the court about their role in deploying to parliament that night.

“My mission was to blockade the parliament building and the members’ hall, and secure those buildings,” said Army Colonel Kim Hyun-tae, who personally led about 97 special forces troops on the ground.

Kim said after they entered the building, his commander, Kwak Jong-geun, ordered him to get in the main chamber of the building where lawmakers had gathered to lift the martial law.

“(My commander) asked if we could get in because he said there shouldn’t be more than 150 people,” Kim testified, though he said he did not know the significance of that number at the time, or whether his commander meant lawmakers.

Kwak, the commander of the Army Special Warfare Command, has said he was told to stop 150 lawmakers or more from gathering, the quorum needed to vote down the martial law decree.

Kim said he told Kwak his troops were not able to enter the chamber. Eventually 190 lawmakers defied the cordon to vote against Yoon’s decision.

Kwak took the stand at the court later on Thursday and faced Yoon in the same courtroom. Kwak has been saying that Yoon directly ordered him to “drag out” lawmakers but Yoon did not ask him to protect civilians or withdraw his troops, contradicting Yoon’s claims.

Yoon has flatly denied any wrongdoing and allegations about attempted arrests of politicians. He has defended the martial law announcement two months ago as his right as the head of the state.

Yoon is in jail and separately faces a criminal trial on insurrection charges. 
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US government vessels can sail Panama Canal without fees, US says

Posted on by SeeUS

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of State said on Wednesday American government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees.

“The government of Panama has agreed to no longer charge fees for U.S. government vessels to transit the Panama Canal,” the department said in a post on X.

It said the agreement will save the U.S. government millions of dollars each year.

The Panama Canal Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino on Sunday during a trip to Central America.

Panama has become a focal point of the Trump administration as President Donald Trump has accused the Central American country of charging excessive rates to use its passage.

“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” Trump said last month.

Mulino has dismissed Trump’s threat that the U.S. retake control of the canal, which it largely built. The U.S. administered territory surrounding the passage for decades.

But the U.S. and Panama signed a pair of accords in 1977 that paved the way for the canal’s return to full Panamanian control. The United States handed it over in 1999 after a period of joint administration.
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Greenlanders explore Pacific Islands’ relationship with Washington

Posted on by SeeEA

WASHINGTON — Greenland’s representative in the United States met recently with at least one ambassador from the Pacific Islands to learn more about a political arrangement that some think could create an opportunity for the Arctic island and Washington, VOA has learned.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his interest in either buying or taking control of Greenland, a resource-rich semiautonomous territory of Denmark, noting its strategic importance and position in the Arctic Ocean where Russia and China are rapidly advancing. But there has been pushback from the island’s residents, political leaders, Denmark and Europe.

Greenland representatives have declined to comment to VOA on their meeting that focused on a framework that Pacific Island nations have with Washington — known as the Compacts of Free Association, or COFA. The compacts give the United States military access to three strategic Pacific Islands — the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau — in exchange for economic aid.

Jackson Soram, ambassador to the United States from the Federated States of Micronesia, told VOA that the discussions took place at the end of January and focused on “basic questions” on the “provisions of economic assistance, and also the security and defense provisions of the compacts.”

Soram said he met with representatives from Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-ruled Danish territory.

Alexander Gray, a former National Security Council chief of staff during the first Trump administration who worked on Pacific Island issues, told VOA he encouraged the Pacific Islands’ ambassadors to conduct these meetings.

“[The Greenlanders] want independence from Denmark,” Gray, who is now a managing partner of American Global Strategies, said in an emailed response. “An independent Greenland, with a tiny population and the second-least densely populated geography on the planet, will quickly become dominated and its sovereignty undermined by Beijing and Moscow.”

Russia has been reopening bases in the region even as Beijing has invested more than $90 billion in infrastructure projects in the Arctic Circle. Both the United States and Denmark have military bases in Greenland.

Gray said arctic dominance by Moscow and Beijing poses “a unique strategic threat” to the United States. He said a COFA “would allow Greenland to maintain its sovereignty, while allowing the U.S. to ensure that sovereignty is truly protected.”

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has repeatedly told Trump that Greenland is “not for sale.” But Monday, she said Copenhagen welcomes additional U.S. military investment in the strategic island.

“So, if this is about securing our part of the world, we can find a way forward,” she said.

US-Greenland defense agreement

Some analysts say that neither Washington nor Nuuk needs a COFA agreement to increase the U.S. military presence in Greenland. In 2004, the United States, Greenland and Denmark signed the Igaliku Agreement to reduce the U.S. military presence in Greenland to a single air base, the Thule Air Base, which has been renamed Pitfuffik Space Base. It provides Washington with missile defense and space surveillance.

The 2004 agreement provides for “any significant changes to U.S. military operations or facilities” in Greenland to be made through consultation between Washington, Nuuk and Copenhagen.

“Washington can already achieve its objectives through working with Greenland and Denmark,” Otto Svendsen, an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote last month on CSIS’s website.

A Danish Institute for International Studies policy brief in 2022 pointed out that COFA has created economic dependence between the Marshall Islands and the United States, as U.S. donor money makes up 70% of the Marshall Islands’ total GDP. This is the opposite of what Greenland’s leaders say they want.

Search for independence

A 2009 law called the Act on Greenland Self-Government outlines a “road map” —-drawn up by Nuuk and Copenhagen — for an independent Greenland, which requires a successful referendum.

In his New Year’s address, Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said, “The upcoming new election period must, together with the citizens, create these new steps,” opening the door for a referendum during parliamentary elections in April.

A 2019 survey suggested that more than two-thirds of Greenlanders want independence at some point. Yet in a poll released in January by two newspapers in Denmark and Greenland, 85% say they do not want to be part of the United States. Fifty-five percent, however, see Trump’s interest in Greenland as an opportunity.

Gray told VOA that the U.S., Denmark and Greenland should enter trilateral discussions for a compact.

“Working together, Washington, Copenhagen, and Nuuk can find common ground and move forward on a post-independence arrangement that works for all parties,” he said in an emailed response.

As far back as 2010, Greenland told the United Nations it was exploring the idea of negotiating independence through a “free association” with Denmark.

Egede said he is ready to meet with Trump, but, “We do not want to be Danes. We do not want to be Americans.”

Soram said he is trying to get ambassadors from Palau and the Marshall Islands to attend additional meetings with Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark.
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French PM survives no-confidence vote

Posted on by SeeEU

France’s prime minister survived a no-confidence vote by parliament on Wednesday after he invoked special constitutional powers to force through the country’s 2025 budget. 

Only 128 lawmakers voted in favor of the no-confidence motion against Francois Bayrou, falling short of the 289 votes required to pass. 

Far-left lawmakers called for the measure after Bayrou invoked Article 49.3, which grants the minority government special constitutional powers to pass legislation without a parliamentary vote. 

The no-confidence motion appeared to have no chance of succeeding after the Socialists and the far-right National Rally lawmakers announced they would not support it. 

Under France’s Constitution, the no-confidence motion’s failure meant that the 2025 budget automatically became law. 

The French political scene has been challenging since President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections last year, a move that resulted in no party having a majority in parliament. 

Some information for this story came from Reuters and The Associated Press. 
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UN: Deaths near 3,000 in fighting for DRC’s Goma

Posted on by SeeAF

UNITED NATIONS — A senior U.N. official in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Wednesday that nearly 3,000 people have been killed in a fighting between M23 militants and the national army over control of a key eastern city.

Vivian van de Perre, the deputy head of the United Nations mission in the DRC, told reporters in a video call from Goma that U.N. teams are “actively helping” the M23 to collect the dead from the city’s streets. She said that, so far, 2,000 bodies have been retrieved and 900 others are in hospital morgues.

“We expect this number to go up,” she said. “There are still many decomposing bodies in many areas. The World Health Organization is really worried about what kind of epidemic outbreaks that can contribute to.”

In early January, the M23 broke a ceasefire agreement, launching a large-scale offensive in the mineral-rich east with the support of the Rwandan army. On Jan. 27, the M23 said it had captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and a city of more than a million people, thousands of whom have been displaced from other conflict areas.

The DRC government has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group, a claim that Rwanda denies. Kigali, in turn, alleges that Kinshasa collaborates with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or the FDLR, an armed Hutu group with ties to the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, an allegation the DRC rejects.

M23 holds Goma

Van de Perre said Goma is “firmly under control at the moment of M23.” The Congolese government has officially designated the M23 as a terrorist organization, while the United Nations and the United States classify it as an armed rebel group.

“All exit routes from Goma are under their control, and the airport, also under M23 control, is closed until further notice,” she told reporters. “The escalating violence has led to immense human suffering, displacement and a growing humanitarian crisis.”

She said nearly 2,000 civilians are sheltering at U.N. peacekeeping bases in Goma and that “our bases are full, full, full.” She said they cannot handle any more people, and they are concerned that the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions could lead to disease outbreaks at the bases.

Water and electricity had been cut off to the city during the intense fighting but have been partially restored. Markets are also reopening, but van de Perre said prices have skyrocketed.

She said peacekeepers with the U.N. mission, known as MONUSCO, are operating under limited movements imposed by the M23. They are not patrolling the city, but they are able to resupply their bases.

“Any movement we have to announce 48 hours in advance,” she said. Asked about reports that M23 rebels have suspended some aid work and are interfering with the work of journalists, she said that there are indications of harassment, but that she did not know the extent of it.

On the move

The M23 is reported to be progressing toward the South Kivu capital of Bukavu. Van de Perre said heavy fighting has been reported along the main route between Kinyezire and Nyabibwe.

“In Bukavu, tensions are rising as the M23 moves closer, just 50 kilometers north of the city,” she said.

MONUSCO has been in the process of drawing down its peacekeepers at the request of the Congolese government. In June, it left South Kivu province entirely.

“While the 4 February unilateral ceasefire announced by the M23 offers assurances that Bukavu will not be taken, we are gravely concerned for Kavumu airport, which is critical for ongoing civilian and humanitarian use,” she said of South Kivu’s airport.
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VOA Mandarin: Is US state’s lawsuit against China over COVID winnable?

Posted on by SeeUS

The U.S. state of Missouri is suing China over the coronavirus pandemic, accusing it of “unleashing COVID-19 on the world.” The lawsuit threatens to seize $25 billion in assets if Beijing refuses to pay damages. Although the state attorney general is confident in winning the case, legal experts said there are still hoops Missouri needs to jump through due to laws protecting foreign state assets in the U.S.

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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VOA Mandarin: Chinese firms relocated to Mexico face new problems amid Trump tariffs

Posted on by SeeEA

President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on imports from Mexico, temporarily put on hold this week, could disrupt the strategy of Chinese companies that have relocated to northern Mexico in recent years. By moving production closer to the U.S. market, these firms have been able to bypass U.S. tariffs toward China through the USMCA trade deal. Experts warn that these companies now face two significant challenges. 

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.

 

 
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Scores killed in Somalia in clash between security forces, Islamic State

Posted on by SeeAF

WASHINGTON — Nearly 70 people were killed and up to 50 others wounded during 24 hours of fighting between Islamic State fighters and security forces from Somalia’s Puntland region, officials said Wednesday. 

At least 15 Puntland soldiers and more than 50 militants were slain in the fierce fighting around the Dharin and Qurac areas of the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, multiple Puntland security officials told VOA, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. 

In an interview Wednesday with VOA’s Somali Service, a spokesperson for Puntland security operations, Brigadier General Mohamud Mohamed Ahmed, said the fighting, which began Tuesday, was the heaviest since Puntland launched an offensive last month against Islamic State groups that have hideouts in the mountains.  

“We have confirmed that at least 57 Islamic State militants, all of them foreigners, were killed during the fighting in the last 24 hours,” Ahmed said. 

Ahmed declined to say how many Puntland soldiers were wounded or lost but suggested casualties were heavy.  

“The fighting is taking place in a mountainous area where the militants are using improvised explosives. The fighting of this nature in such an environment, the attacking force often suffers more casualties than the defenders,” he said. 

VOA could not independently verify the claim of 57 militants killed but graphic video circulated on social media was said to show scenes of militants’ bodies strewn in a mountainous area. 

Ahmed said Tuesday night the United Arab Emirates conducted a drone strike against the IS militants in the area to support Puntland forces. 

A statement from the Puntland forces said their troops have gained ground.  

“Puntland forces have successfully captured the strategic village of Dharin in Togga Jecel, dealing a significant blow to the extremist group’s operational capabilities in the region,” the statement said. 

It added: “The forces have expelled the enemy from the areas they fought along the Togga Jecel.” 

These latest clashes came just days after U.S. warplanes targeted the Islamic State affiliate in Somalia, hitting what officials described as high-ranking operatives in the terror group’s mountainous stronghold. 

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the airstrike Saturday on social media, describing the main target as a “Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led.” 

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud thanked the U.S. for its “unwavering support” in the “fight against international terrorism.” 

Military campaign

Puntland began a military offensive dubbed “Hilac Campaign” last month against extremist groups in the region following months of preparations. 

Claims by Puntland commanders made regarding different battles indicate more than 150 Islamic State militants have been killed.  

Puntland’s leader, Said Abdullahi Deni, appealed to the public to support the operation, which he said is aimed at dislodging the Islamic State militants from their hideouts in mountainous areas. 

The operation has garnered public support. Monday, hundreds of residents took to the streets of Bosaso, the commercial hub of Puntland state, to demonstrate against the terrorist group and show support for the military campaign. 

Puntland is a member state of Somalia but its relationship with the country’s federal government has been strained by political conflicts and the region is considered semi-autonomous.  

Analysts say the rift between the two sides has limited any collaboration between the federal government and the Puntland regional state, including the fight against terrorists. 

“An operation like this needs logistical support and reinforcements, and the regional states alone cannot handle it. Federal government support and involvement is a must,” Somalia’s former Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmake told VOA. 

“The Islamic State is a common enemy for Somalis. Politicians should separate the national interests and the political differences that can be later solved through negotiations. National interests including security and development should not be politicized,” former national intelligence chief Brigadier General Abdirahman Turyare told VOA. 

IS in Puntland  

Puntland has endured terrorist attacks perpetrated by al-Shabab and Islamic State militants, but the ongoing military operation appears to be focused on IS. 

The group has a relatively small presence in Somalia compared to the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, but experts have warned of growing activity. 

U.S. military officials and Somali security experts reported that IS increased its membership numbers in Somalia last year. 

The group was previously estimated to have between 100 and 400 fighters, but Somali security and intelligence experts say the number has grown to between 500 and 600. 

Most of the newcomers are said to be from the Middle East and eastern and northern Africa. 

Faadumo Yasin Jama contributed to this report.

 
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